I’m looking forward to the return of the Festival of the Masters presented by Michaels event at Downtown Disney. This open-air art festival has been offered at Walt Disney World Resort since 1975. Being a photographer by hobby, I love being inspired by wandering through the beautiful displays by amazing, award-winning artists. I caught up with the Disney Theme Park Merchandise events team, who gave me a look at what you can expect this year.

The main signature art was created by the talented Disney Yellow Shoes Creative Group artist Joe Kaminski. Titled “Patriotic Pal,” the vibrant image features Mickey Mouse in festive red, white and blue. The original image will be offered along with a giclée, deluxe print and a limited edition pin.

Joe is just one of the many artists we are featuring at this event. We will also offer original works by Noah (who recently created the main artwork for the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival), Don “Ducky” Williams, Katie Kelly, Bil Shannon, Greg Trombo, Will Gay, Randy Noble and more. One of my favorite pieces features a stunning image of Dumbo by Disney Design Group artist Darren Wilson. (It reminds me of the Storybook Circus area of New Fantasyland.) Darren wanted the image to resemble a vintage poster that would have advertised Dumbo appearing in a small-town circus.

There will be plenty of opportunities to meet artists at the Disney Artist Village starting each day at 10:00 a.m. Additionally, William Silvers will be creating original works in front of attendees at select times throughout the weekend (his art will be for sale following his performances).

In 2008, Vinylmation was introduced to the world at this annual event. We will be offering a variety of custom one-of-a-kind figures from artists like Noah, Miss Mindy (the Caterpillar figure is incredible!), John Henselmeier, Darren Wilson and others.

We will also hold a signing party at D Street with Eric Caszatt from Disney Design Group, who designed the Classic Collection mystery series. This black-and-white series was inspired by classic Disney animated shorts and follows Eric’s Have-A-Laugh series released in 2010. You can meet Eric from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, November 9.

I hope to see you at the event!

Read more news from Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World Resort in these posts:

Katie on November 7th, 2012 at 12:00 pm

I MUST have the Robin Hood painting!!!! That is one of my favorite Disney movies and is so incredibly underrated. This will be an awesome weekend: PGA tour for the husband, Festival of the Masters for me, and then off to the Wine and Dine Half Marathon! Keep an eye out for blue/pink Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip!

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Christopher on November 7th, 2012 at 5:42 pm

Wow Miss Mindys Custom Vinylmation is Amazing!

3

Lois on November 7th, 2012 at 9:59 pm

Hi, Steven. This will be my first time attending Festival of the Masters. Do people start lining up really early on Friday morning before the 10am start time, or does it not really matter how early you get there before the Festival opens?

Also, if you buy art, is there the option of shipping it home (for a fee of course)? Thanks.

Steven Miller on November 8th, 2012 at 12:54 pm

@Lois – I hope you have a wonderful trip! There are so many things to see during the Festival. It’s difficult to say if people will line up (as it is an open market area with no gate). I know that the festivities won’t start until 10:00 a.m. Here is a schedule of artist appearances:

Yes, shipping will be available for a small fee. I hope to see you there!

4

PaulaMarie from MI on November 8th, 2012 at 12:06 pm

Will the art only be on sale at the park? I will not be there but would love to purchase a painting!?

Steven Miller on November 8th, 2012 at 1:00 pm

@PaulaMarie – The artwork featured at the Festival will be found at Downtown Disney throughout the weekend. There may be some artwork that lives on after the Festival at the Art of Disney gallery locations. Other items, however, won’t be sold after the weekend is done.

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Brian from NY on November 8th, 2012 at 12:11 pm

OMG @Kaite, Me too!!! It’s so rare you see Robin Hood items and that is my FAVORITE movie and some of THE BEST character designs! I have a HUGE Robinhood collection and I MUST HAVE THIS! Will this be available after the 11th also? I should be down in FL a little later than that. I’d hate to just miss it. Anywhere I can see a bigger image of the Robin painting?!!

Steven Miller on November 8th, 2012 at 1:22 pm

The Robin Hood artwork was created by Bil Shannon from Disney’s Yellow Shoes Creative Group. Unfortunately, I don’t have a larger images available.

Bil created several painting of “buddy” characters including Robin Hood and Little John; Ariel and Flounder; Thumper and Bambi; and more. From my understanding, they won’t be available after the event.

6

Lyn on November 15th, 2012 at 12:56 pm

If we don’t live in FL or can’t attend, how do we purchase any of this art work?

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